Against all odds
So I visited Greece, the country of science, warriors, art, olives, oranges, islands, fishermen and, most importantly, nice people.
Why "Against All Odds" because it was not just a trip, but a collection of absurdities, stupidities, losses and strikes, BUT! most importantly smiles.
I'll start from the very beginning... the trip to the airport, what can I say, I was never so afraid in my life... the called taxi arrived on time, BUT! not only did the driver not know Russian (but figs with him, this is not a problem), but the problem was different... the man apparently slept for the last time three days before my trip... he managed to fall asleep at the wheel TWICE! To my cry and “Let me out, I’ll pay for the whole trip, just let me out, ” they ignored me and, with sin in half, still took me to the airport...
TIP: don't sit next to doubtful drivers and BE careful!
At the airport, I realized that I forgot my toothbrush and charger from my laptop, but what is it you ask... yes, there’s nothing like that, I just take this brush with me every trip since I was 8 years old... I bought it on my first trip to Finland, and charging specific and I couldn’t find it in Athens as a result. In general, here it was necessary to turn around and spit on the trip, BUT! I'm not superstitious. . .
I was told to check in my backpack as luggage, why you ask, but because it weighed 527 grams! more than allowed for hand luggage! Integrity pleases. I had to carry a laptop, a camera and 2 lenses in my hands… they didn’t sell bags at the airport! No one! More precisely, no, I still bought a package for 250 rubles, along with a magazine... they don’t sell the package separately. FINISH!
We spent 45 minutes on the plane (back and forth! ) waiting for late drunken characters... I don’t know who they were, but apparently our Aeroflot is so tactful and good that it is waiting for everyone to victory.
The flight and arrival went perfectly, I'm not ironic, seriously... for which many thanks to the crew.
I found a taxi quickly, and off we went. . . it's hot, sunny, the driver is a nice old man. . . STOP, get out, your hotel is right around the corner. Why not to the hotel? And because the roads are blocked... you know, a strike. Well, I wandered to the hotel on foot with a backpack overweight... along the way I met a group of Greek police vacationers in the shade... OH! The models on the runway at the Armani show are resting, no really! Tall, toned, black hair and all in armor! Not just in uniform, but in shields and armored vests... and this is at 30 degrees! Oh good. Well, I didn’t look much... about five minutes))) and finally crawled to my designer hotel.
Check-in, room, hotel location and geography of attractions around the hotel, all at the highest level! 8 minutes walk from the Agora, 15 minutes from the Acropolis, 5 minutes from the old city, etc. , etc. At least 2 restaurants per square meter. Flea market 15 minutes… beach 20 minutes by car and 45 minutes by public tram.
The first day was spent in getting acquainted with the Acropolis, but how could it be otherwise : ) The Acropolis is magnificent, YES it is destroyed, BUT the awareness of history and significance is simply amazing. I noticed that everyone is very respectfully inspecting the ruins, even somehow carefully, silently and slowly... even the Louvre usually runs through in 5 minutes, but here everything is somehow real, you are on the steps of history, you are where great things were done... well, what else to say... went to the Acropolis 2 more times : )
TIP: do not regret 5 euros for freshly squeezed juice with ice at the exit from the Acropolis, believe me it's worth it.
Then walk to the National Museum, slowly through the city, along the streets, and to the flea market for souvenirs. You can even meet bears from the 1982 Olympics : ) yes yes, the one we had in the USSR.
At the end of a busy day, already buying local fast food… something like lamb or chicken shawarma with vegetables, french fries and Greek flatbread… I realized that I was burned… all parts of the body that were not under clothes burned to death, it reached a temperature… BUT! 2 Asperin tablets and I'm back in the fight.
TIP: don't forget to use anti-tanning products and panama hats, panama hats and more panama hats!
The next morning I stomped on the Agora, past the station square, and again along the small streets full of little things that you don’t often see, old people knit garlic braids... SMELL! OH! A young girl is sewing national sandals… HIGH!
TIP: be sure to buy a kilogram of strawberries in a nice paper bag for 1 euro in the morning, and a bottle of cold milk. With such a breakfast, it’s very pleasant to walk around the Agora… Just don’t throw away the bag and the bottle anywhere… the monument is still : )
And now to the beach, with a special desire to explore the city, you can walk to the beach... but it's far away! So it's better to take a taxi or use ground transportation... I tried all 3 options.
The beaches I visited were municipal, they are free, but you shouldn't expect much comfort either : ) The water in May was clean but cold, although tolerable. Yet May is not quite the season for the beaches
TIP: after swimming and fur seal on the beach, be sure to go to one of the restaurants with Greek cuisine... fish with white wine and real Greek salad and flatbread, and all this with Greek olives! Oh, trite, but very tasty. Lemon cheesecake with whipped cream for dessert!
And now, having relaxed to the fullest, an attempt to return to the hotel by surface metro was unsuccessful... why? Day 1 of the Great Strike! On the subway I got to my station, I get out, AND THERE !! ! Thousands of people with banners, in masks, in uniforms of all kinds of services… and so on and so forth… and I still have to get from the metro to the hotel! To say that it was scary... I won’t say, everything is somehow joyful, not aggressive... I walked past all this confidently, and most importantly quickly... well, just in case... In the hotel, the frightened British and Germans, as it turned out, sat all day in front of screens with news sites: ) they ask me at the entrance, they say, how is it there? Is it over already? Oh, these Europeans, before I had time to think, the next day I became an eyewitness of how the bank in which there were people burned down. Victims, tears, fire and smoke… not at all what you expect from this city and this people… broken shop windows, windows and restaurants. It was not very pleasant to drive around the city the next morning... I think no one wanted and did not expect victims, the next evening everyone sat quietly in restaurants and watched the news as one... everyone was in shock... a strange feeling, like the spirit of revolution in the air, but how it’s not fun anymore, somehow everything is adult-like... that night I was sitting in a restaurant where they showed some kind of film in English... the only place where there was no news...
These days I managed to twist my leg, lost my glasses and the cap from the lens, I was deceived by the vending machine selling tickets for the ground metro (I took the money and didn’t give the ticket)... and at the end of all this, they transferred money to the wrong phone for me all week, in general, everything somehow went wrong...
Ehhh…. despite all this, I got an unforgettable feeling from this great and strange country, or rather not even a country, but only from one city of Athens. On those days when I wanted to sail to one of the islands, there were always strikes... so I didn’t get to visit Mykonos as I planned, but next time I will devote all my time to this island.
